This unique reference thoroughly documents every important setting and feature in Microsoft's new operating system, with alphabetical listings for hundreds of commands, windows, menus, listboxes, buttons, scrollbars and other elements of Windows Vista. With this book's simple organization, you'll easily find any setting, tool, or feature for the task you want to accomplish.
Along with a system overview that highlights major changes, and a tour of the basics such as manipulating files and getting around the interface, Windows Vista in a Nutshell offers alphabetized references for these topics:
The User Interface: Covers the Sidebar, Aero Glass, the new Control Panel layout, and applets, as well as how to customize animated windows, the desktop, Start menu, pop-up windows on the Taskbar, and more.
The File System, Drives, Data, and Search: Discusses working with the new Windows Explorer, Virtual Folders, searches, indexing, saved searches, metadata, and sharing.
The Internet and Networking: Examines TCP/IP, RSS, tabbed browsing, and anti-phishing features of Internet Explorer, plus cookie handling, parental control features, and more.
Networking and Wireless: Offers an illustrated, step-by-step guide to setting up a home network; covers the Network Center, Sync Center, Hot Spot access, wireless management, collaboration, and sharing.
Working with Hardware: Describes how to set up, maintain, and troubleshoot hardware--including keyboards, mice, monitors, USB devices, scanners, cameras, and sound devices--and how to add, install, and troubleshoot drivers.
Security: Includes the Security Center, Windows Defender, User Account Protection, System Protection, Network Access Protection, WiFi encryption, Windows Firewall, file encryption, and more.
Mobility: Explains Mobility Center settings, plugging a secondary monitor into your computer, and the new "network projection" feature for making presentations.
Multimedia: Covers Windows Photo Gallery, Media Player, Media Center, podcasting features, connecting to and synching with MP3 players, recording TV and videos, making videos with Windows Movie Maker, and burning CDs and DVDs.
The Command Prompt: Provides commands for working with files, utilities for troubleshooting the network, and instructions on how to create your own batch files.
Appendixes include information on installation, keyboard shortcuts, common filename extensions, and more. Windows Vista in a Nutshell is your one-stop source for everything you need from Microsoft's latest operating system.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
O'Reilly Strikes again:
Why doesn't Microsoft just turn over the instructional responsibility to O'Reilly? Does a better job of explaing what is going on and why than the vast majority of Tech. writers Bill Gates hires.
Not what it's "cracked-up" to be:
I wanted to like this book, but it is just deficient in the information that it presents. Yep: found errors. It does not give enough information to really do anything. One goes to the index and finds a subject and then there is maybe one or two lines on it--really saying nothing.
Outstanding Overview Of Windows Vista:
'Windows Vista in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference' by Preston Gralla is one of the best "in a Nutshell" books that I have seen. Covering every square inch of Windows Vista in a concise, compact manner, this guide is more like a 'teaching reference' about the ins and outs of Microsoft' newest operating system. Packed full of 720 pages of Vista goodness, this book will take you quickly from the basics to the deepest crevices of what Vista has lurking around every corner. Vista administrators would... more info
An increasingly valuable reference:
Every important setting and feature in Microsoft's new operating system is covered in a guide which packs in listings for hundreds of commands, windows, menus, and other Windows Vista elements. From the new operating system's basic user interface and differences between Vista and other operating systems to tips in installation, keyboard shortcuts and more, this should be a basic reference for quite some time, offering essential keys to understanding and streamlining Vista's capabilities. Libraries will find... more info
